The Kurds (Iraqi Kurdistan)

News about The Kurds (Iraqi Kurdistan), including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Mar. 16, 2015

Op-Ed article by anthropologist Scott Atran and retired Major General Douglas M Stone celebrates heroic achievement of Kurdish people in holding back Islamic State incursion along a 640-mile front in Iraq; calls on United States officials to provide Kurds with far more material assistance, arguing they make fine allies, both in terms of their tenacity and their inclusive, moderate ideology. MORE

Feb. 20, 2015

United States Central Command says push to retake Mosul, Iraq, from Islamic State extremists is planned for April or May 2015 and will involve 20,000 to 25,000 Iraq and Kurdish troops; unusually candid announcement, made at White House's counterterrorism conference, is intended deflect criticism that Iraq is lagging in effort to rout militants. MORE

Feb. 2, 2015

Kurds in liberated border city Kobani, Syria, are taking pride in their victory over Islamic State, even as they mourn heavy losses of their devastated city; American-led air campaign, in tandem with local forces, helped expel militants. MORE

Jan. 31, 2015

Islamic State militants carry out surprise attack on Iraqi Kurdish fighters near Kirkuk, killing Kurdish commander and five soldiers; attack on strategic city is one of Islamic State's most aggressive. MORE

Jan. 27, 2015

Kurdish militias eject Islamic State militants from Kobani, Syria, with aid of American airstrikes, ending three-month battle that had taken on outsized symbolic significance; Islamic State's tenacity in holding city, which is relatively minor border town, offers indication of how much importance it places in projecting image of strength. MORE

Dec. 19, 2014

Surge of American airstrikes helps Kurdish forces recapture territory in Iraq from Islamic State militants and opens path for autonomous Kurdish region to Mount Sinjar in west, near Syrian border. MORE

Dec. 9, 2014

American military officials say allies in campaign against Islamic State group have agreed to send 1,500 troops to join American soldiers and military personnel who are advising and training Iraqi and Kurdish troops. MORE

Dec. 3, 2014

Iraqi government reaches long-term agreement with autonomous Kurdish region to share oil wealth and military resources, helping reunite country in war against Islamic State; deal appears likely to curb momentum for independent Kurdish state, but soothing discord with Sunnis remains formidable challenge. MORE

Nov. 23, 2014

Dispatch column by journalist Paul Salopek describes his experience of crossing the world on foot as part of project called The Out of Eden Walk; says for past three months he has been trekking in Turkey's Kurdish heartland, and has observed that having enemies is synonymous with Kurdishness. MORE

Nov. 20, 2014

Fate of obscure Syrian border town Kobani has become defining battle of broader contest with Islamic State; it is crucial public test of Pres Obama's strategy of combining American air power with local ground forces; for Islamic State, it is test of its image of inevitability and invincibility, and a tool for recruiting jihadists; for Kurds, it is a possible homeland, separate from Syria. MORE

Nov. 14, 2014

Iraq and Kurdistan reach interim agreement over oil exports and budget payments; central government will pay $500 million to Kurdistan Regional Government from national budget while Kurds will allow Iraqi government to sell 150,000 barrels a day of their exported oil; agreement is hailed as important step in resolving ongoing dispute that has taken on increasing urgency with drop in oil prices threatening country's economy. MORE

Oct. 30, 2014

First contingents of Iraqi Kurdish soldiers and Syrian rebel fighters arrive in beleaguered town of Kobani, Syria, raising hopes there that influx heralds more cooperative international effort to fight Islamic State extremists; reinforcements are first that Turkey has allowed to cross through into Syria after weeks of tense diplomacy. MORE

Oct. 29, 2014

Pesh merga forces from Iraqi Kurdistan move for the first time to join fight against Islamic State Militants besieging the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobani; move, involving about 150 pesh merga fighters, takes advantage of Turkey's decision to open its borders to reinforcements. MORE

Oct. 26, 2014

Kurdish officials are desperately trying to sell oil abroad, even as the Iraqi government and the United States are blocking their attempts; Iraqi officials say tankers are carrying oil that by law should be marketed only by Iraqi Oil Ministry. MORE

Oct. 24, 2014

Germany is sending a mission to northern Iraq to examine whether its military, and possibly those of other European nations, can expand the training of Kurdish forces battling jihadists there. MORE

Oct. 21, 2014

Turkey will allow Iraqi Kurdish forces known as pesh merga to cross its border with Syria to help fight Islamic State militants, who have besieged Syrian town of Kobani; decision is important shift by Turkish government, which had refused to allow fighters or weapons to cross border in support of Kurdish fighters. MORE

Oct. 20, 2014

American military aircraft drop ammunition, small arms and medical supplies to Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State militants in the Syrian town of Kobani. MORE

Oct. 19, 2014

Serge Schmemann Quick History column reflects on news of the week, including reaction in United States to Ebola virus, Europe's economic troubles and Turkish attacks on Kurds who are fighting Islamic State group. MORE

Oct. 16, 2014

United States has sharply increased number of airstrikes against Islamic State militants in besieged city of Kobani, Syria, aided by information provided by Kurdish fighters; Kurdish officials say intensified attacks have allowed them to regain territory and push militants back on several fronts. MORE

Oct. 15, 2014

Turkish warplanes strike positions of the Kurdistan Workers' Party in country's southeastern region; attacks, first in nearly two years, come in retaliation for PKK's attack on a military outpost; move becomes a flash point for international criticism of Turkey's unwillingness to take on a bigger role in fighting Islamic State militants. MORE

Oct. 14, 2014

Many refugees who fled majority Kurdish town of Kobani, Syria, as Islamic State advanced have settled in Suruc, Turkey; refugees seem at once luckier and more tortured than masses of displaced people from wars in Syria and Iraq as their homes are still visible from the border, short drive away. MORE

Oct. 13, 2014

Kurdistan rebels in northeastern Iraq say their halting, nine-year-old peace process with the Turkish government and, indeed, the future of the region, turn on the battle against Islamic State militants for Kobani, Syria, and on Turkey’s response; rebels have been at heart of Kurdish resistance in city. MORE

Oct. 9, 2014

Editorial condemns Turkish Pres Recep Tayyip Erdogan for failing to take action against Islamic State extremists besieging town of Kobani, Syria, and its Kurdish population; holds by remaining passive, Erdogan is seeking to weaken Kurds and force United States to help him oust Syrian Pres Bashar al-Assad; contends Erdogan thus is enabling Islamic State extremists, enraging Kurds in Turkey and threatening 50-plus-nation coalition United States has assembled. MORE

Oct. 7, 2014

Islamic State militants push into eastern edge of Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani on Turkish border. MORE

Oct. 2, 2014

Islamic State militants sweep into a Kurdish village in Syria near Turkish border, while in western Syrian city Homs, twin car bombs kill at least 45 people. MORE

Oct. 1, 2014

Kurdish fighters open successful offensives against Islamic State militants in northern Iraq; seize control of border crossing with Syria that has been a major conduit for the insurgents. MORE

Sep. 29, 2014

Syrian Kurdish refugees flood Turkish border as Islamic State steps up attacks; more than 150,000 people have fled into Turkey over past week. MORE

Sep. 28, 2014

Chaos on Turkey's border with Syria and Turkey's ambivalent reaction to fighting between Kurds and Islamic State group are reflection of nation's complex role in Syrian civil war; Turkey does not wish to enhance power of its own Turkish separatists, even though it would benefit from defeating Islamic State militants. MORE

Sep. 28, 2014

Pentagon reports it has conducted its first strikes against Islamic State targets in besieged Kurdish area of Syria along the Turkish border that has been subject to weeklong onslaught by the militants. MORE

Sep. 23, 2014

Hadi al-Bahra, leader of moderate Syrian opposition, appeals for American airstrikes to halt fierce attacks by militants from Islamic State against Kurdish communities in northern Syria. MORE

Sep. 22, 2014

Fighters from Islamic State have been storming through Kurdish villages in northern Syria, clashing with Kurdish militias, terrifying residents and sending tens of thousands of new refugees fleeing across border into Turkey. MORE

Sep. 21, 2014

Thousands of people make the arduous journey daily between Kurdish land in northern Iraq and territory controlled by the Islamic State; many visit relatives, go to work or run errands, then return at the end of the day; travelers say hardships are not caused by intimidation and violence or the loss of control of their daily lives, but by severe interruptions in the supply of food, power, fuel and employment. MORE

Sep. 8, 2014

Kurdish government is delaying start of school year in northern Iraq, as increasing number of refugees displaced by the advance of militants from Islamic State in Iraq and Syria take up residence in school buildings; situation reflects government's growing struggle to provide basic services to citizens in northern Iraq as conflict rages. MORE

Sep. 5, 2014

British Prime Min David Cameron offers to arm Kurdish forces fighting Islamist militants and refuses to rule out British airstrikes in Iraq and possibly Syria. MORE

Sep. 2, 2014

Initial losses suffered by Kurdish pesh merga troops when Islamic State in Iraq and Syria fighters entered Kurdistan prompt hard questions about how the Kurdish fighters could have failed their greatest test in more than 20 years; pesh merga have enjoyed fearsome reputation as unconquered mountain warriors for decades, but fled in face of ISIS militants, leaving thousands defenseless. MORE

Sep. 2, 2014

German Chancellor Angela Merkel tells lawmakers that her government has decided to break with taboo on delivering weapons to conflict zones and will send weapons to Kurdish forces battling Islamic State in Iraq and Syria extremists; says Germany and all of Europe face security threat from ISIS. MORE

Sep. 1, 2014

German officials approve delivery of weapons to Kurdish forces battling Islamic militants in Iraq; solid majority in Germany's Parliament backs move, while opinion polls indicate that up to two-thirds of Germans oppose decision. MORE

Aug. 30, 2014

Obama administration officials are quietly acknowledging more autonomous Kurdistan, consequence of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria fundamentally changing political geography of country; Iraqi Kurdistan has been physically cut off from rest of Shiite-dominated Iraq, encouraging Iraqi Kurds in their drive for expanded independence. MORE

Aug. 27, 2014

Kurdish separatists kidnap three Chinese engineers in an area near a power plant in Turkey’s southeast. MORE

Aug. 19, 2014

Iraqi and Kurdish ground troops overrun militants of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and reclaim Iraq's largest dam; American warplanes unleash barrage of bombs in expansion of limited goals laid out by Pres Obama in authorizing military campaign in the country. MORE

Aug. 18, 2014

Sunni militants of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria appear to be falling back on several fronts after two days of American airstrikes in Iraq, allowing Kurdish forces to retake strategic Mosul Dam. MORE

Aug. 17, 2014

Alissa J Rubin Reporter's Notebook recalls helicopter journey to Mount Sinjar in Iraq to report on the rescue of Yazidis, which ended in crash; describes crash and its aftermath. MORE

Aug. 16, 2014

Very few of residents of Mahmour, Iraq, have returned after American airstrikes paved way for Kurdish forces to reclaim town, which had been occupied by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria militants. MORE

Aug. 12, 2014

Pentagon officials say four days of airstrikes have slowed progress of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria militants laying siege to refugees on Mount Sinjar and advancing toward Kurdish capital of Erbil; officals say group remains strong and on the offense. MORE

Aug. 11, 2014

Kurdish forces, with American airstrikes beginning to show clear effects on battlefield, counterattack Sunni militants in northern Iraq, regaining control of two strategic towns with aid from air; country's political crisis deepens, with deadline expiring for Pres Fouad Massoum to choose nominee for prime minister. MORE

Aug. 8, 2014

Crisis in Iraq escalates rapidly as re-energized Islamic State in Iraq and Syria storms several northern towns and seizes strategic dam in Mosul; country’s most formidable military force, Kurdish pesh merga, is routed in the face of the onslaught; panic spreads to Kurdish capital of Erbil, long considered safe haven. MORE

Aug. 8, 2014

Editorial welcomes Pres Obama's announcement that the United States will drop food and water supplies for some 40,000 Iraqis near Turkish border and that he has authorized airstrikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, if needed; calls on US, Turkey and other allies to move quickly to meet Kurds' needs for ammunition and weapons. MORE

Aug. 7, 2014

Sunni militants with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria repel efforts by Kurdish forces to push them back in areas east of Mosul in northern Iraq. MORE

Aug. 6, 2014

Editorial welcomes fact that alarming new military advances by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have forced Iraqi Prime Min Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to put future of his country over his political disputes and order military support for Kurdish forces battling extremists; laments Iraq's political paralysis that has prevented selection of new prime minister who can unify Iraq seems unending. MORE